


Summertime, Vampires and Other Things That Should Happen at Midnight

by EG Challenge Submissions (6mgs7), gunpowderandsunshine



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: EGChallenge3, Gallavich Halloween, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 20:30:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16456694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6mgs7/pseuds/EG%20Challenge%20Submissions, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunpowderandsunshine/pseuds/gunpowderandsunshine
Summary: Author:  gunpowderandsunshine





	Summertime, Vampires and Other Things That Should Happen at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> Author: gunpowderandsunshine

Ian was supposed to be taking Deb, Carl and Liam around trick-or-treating but he'd ditched them hours ago, sent them back home as soon as he spotted Mickey and since then has been following the other boy around all night. Smashing pumpkins, stealing candy, generally terrorizing the neighborhood like he's known to do. Would happily follow the older boy into hell if it meant he'd suck his dick once they got there.

So he doesn't really blame himself that he's not paying attention to where they are until they cross inside the gates.

"Uh, Mick...."

"Jesus, Gallagher. You scared of a graveyard? Don't be such a fuckin pussy. There's no one here."

Mickey was right, there were no other humans there. But they weren't alone. He could feel them watching.

And it wasn't that he was scared....

....its just he didn't want to start a turf war for being somewhere he shouldn't. Things had barely calmed down since Frank accidentally set one of their elders on fire last year.

Fucking vampires. Laying claim to all of the cemeteries in the city. Ian rolled his eyes at the stereotypicalness of it all.

Like just because he came from a family of witches they should all hang out in the back yard in billowing robes, stirring a cauldron under a moonlit sky or some shit.

Okay, so maybe sometimes Fiona and Vee did exactly that so not his best analogy but whatever.

Jesus. Thinking about Fiona scared him more than the stupid vampires. She'd kick his ass if he was the cause of any trouble here tonight.

"Mick, let's just go back to the ball field, okay?"

"Nah, Gallagher, this is perfect," Mickey tells him, striding off to one of the mausoleums. "Ain't nobody here to bother us."

Ian groans internally and wonders to himself for about the thousandth time why he had to go and fall for a stupid, silly human.

By the time Ian catches up with him, Mickey's got the door half open and Ian rushes to close it before he can step inside.

"I don't think we should go in there."

"Stop being such a wuss," he complains and pushes Ian out of the way, yanking on the door again.

"Mick, please. Don't open that fucking door."

Mickey rolls his eyes at him and prepares to step inside. "What's your fucking problem, Gallagher?"

Well, Ian can't say he didn't try to warn him. This is not going to end well. Fiona's gonna kill him.

Assuming the vamps don't get them first.

 

 

 

 

 

Mickey has no idea what’s going on or what the fuck he just walked into.

He was expecting like, you know, a fucking crypt. Somewhere quiet and mostly private where he and Gallagher could bang and then he could go about his business without the needy redhead following him around like a lost puppy for the rest of the night. It was getting late, coming up on midnight and he had shit to do. Real mayhem to cause. Debts to collect. Deals to make. Shit he wasn’t about to drag Ian into.

What he walked into instead was like some gentlemen’s club from Victorian England or some other fancy ass shit. High backed leather chairs, low tables, soft murmured conversations, drinks being served.

And half the regulars from the Alibi staring at him.

"What the fuck?"

He turns back to look at Ian, expecting the younger boy to be just as confused as he is. But instead Ian just looks tired.

"Aw, hell, Ian" Kev booms out, appearing from Mickey doesn't even know where. He'd swear Kevin wasn't there a minute ago. "Fiona and Vee are gonna have both our asses. What are you doing here?"

Ian nods his head in Mickey's direction from his spot in the doorway. "Not my fault. He didn't know. We'll just leave okay?"

"You know the rules, Ian. We can't just let him walk out of here,” Kermit says.

Ian sighs. This is exactly what he was trying to avoid. "C'mon, Kev. Can you just give him a pass? We'll go. You can pretend you never saw us. And I’ll have Fiona fix it. He won’t remember a thing.”

He can see Kevin thinking it over but then Tommy opens his mouth.

"You’ll definitely have to have Fiona fix it, but we can't just be giving out free passes. That's not how this works. One of you pays the penalty."

"What the fuck, Gallagher? Passes? Penalties? What the hell is going on here?"

Mickey feels like he stepped into the goddamn twilight zone except everyone else seems to know exactly what's happening.

Ian still hasn't moved from his spot in the doorway and Mickey takes a step back towards him, thinking maybe they can just make a run for it because he might not know what's going on, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to stick around and find out.

Ian can feel the tension radiate around the room when Mickey moves and he realizes they aren't going to let him talk his way out of this.

"It's okay, Mick," he says quietly, giving the words some extra weight, a small push, just enough to slow Mickey's heartbeat, keep him calm. Keep this situation from getting any worse.

"So what exactly is the penalty for this?" he asks focusing his attention back on Kev.

Kevin looks lost, he's not actually sure. He knows there’s rules, books full of them, but that’s just so many words and so much work so it’s not like he actually knows what the rules are. And it’s not like this has ever happened to him before- a human just barging into their space. What kind of idiot does that?

"The penalty for trespassing is just a small donation. For the bank, of course." Kermit supplies helpfully. "From you. Or the human."

Oh fuck no.

There is no way in hell.

Mickey is docile when Ian reaches out to grab his arm and pull him closer.  He quickly realizes two things. One, maybe he overdid it with that push. Oh well, he’s still working on that particular skill. And two, this is a test. There’s still a chance they make it out of here mostly unscathed.

“You know my blood isn’t even an option. There’s rules about that too.”

Those rules Kevin does actually know. You couldn’t be in a mixed marriage like his and not know that vampires weren’t allowed to partake of any other supernatural beings blood.

Kermit just shrugs.  “Worth a shot. Guess it’s the human then.”

Mickey feels like he’s at a tennis match the way he’s been looking between Ian and everyone else.  And individually he understands all the words that have been spoken, but he still can’t make heads or tails out of the whole conversation.

Blood donations? Fiona fixing what? His memory? He thinks that’s what he heard? He’s feeling a lot slower on the uptake than he normally does. He just wanted to get fucked, why does his life have to be so damn complicated? But he doesn’t really feel like running anymore for some reason, so he figures he’s got that working in his favor. 

“Just a couple pints.”

Ian muttered an incantation under his breath and a ball of blue flames appeared in his hand. His whole family had an affinity for fire and Ian had never been more thankful for that than right at this moment.

“You replaced Stan yet, Kev? I’d hate for you to lose another elder, but you try to touch him and you can kiss Old Man Jenkins over there goodbye.”

The tension in the room ratchets up another notch and suddenly Ian is staring down several sets of fangs. He just smirks and lets the flames grow higher in response. He will not show any weakness.

“Ian, Ian,” Kevin holds his hands up. “No need for all of that. We’re all just following the rules right, gentlemen? No need for violence.”

“No one touches him,” Ian repeats, pulling Mickey to his side. Yeah, way too hard with that push.

“You’re claiming protection for his family?” Kermit asks and Ian has to wonder why the hell they put Kev in charge instead of him. He’d never even thought about that as an option, but he can roll with it. 

“Yes.  Him and his sister. They’re under our protection.”

Fiona really is going to kill him.

“You still broke the rules.”

Ian rolls his eyes at Tommy.  “You just can’t let it go can you? Fine. Are you open to making a deal?”

He’s talking out of his ass, he has no idea what kind of deal he might make. He just needs some time, maybe he can tell Mickey to run.  He turns his head to look at the other boy and his eyes catch on the bruises covering the left side of Mickey’s face, the busted lip. Things he noticed earlier in the evening but Mickey never mentioned it and Ian knew better than to ask.

But he can fix it now. He knows what deal he can make. Terry Milkovich will never lay a hand on his children or anyone else ever again.

Kermit leans back and crosses his arms, considering. “You put that out and we can talk.”

Ian slowly lets the flames die out. The very worst of his nature is running the show and part of him may hate what he’s about to do for the rest of his life but he can’t think about that right now. He has offered his protection in front of witnesses and even if it wasn’t already, taking care of Mickey, keeping him safe is now his number one priority.

“A life for Mickey’s. A member of his family could pay the penalty for him could they not?”

“Whoa, whoa, Ian, no one said anything about a life.  It was just a donation, man.”

Ian ignores Kevin, keeping his gaze on Kermit and Tommy. “Well, I’m saying it now. I’ll bring you some one to pay the penalty, plus some. And in return, no harm will ever come to Mickey or his sister.”

Kermit smiles. “You have a deal. And one hour.”

Ian nods and pulls Mickey out of the doorway and back down the path and off of the cemetery grounds before coming to a stop.

“Mick, Mickey, I need you to do something for me, okay?”

Mickey blinks up at him. “What the fuck did I just hear? A life for mine? What kind of shit is that? Did Kermit just have fangs? Is this some kind of fucked up Halloween shit? What the hell is going on, Gallagher?”

Ian grabs Mickey’s shoulders and gives him a slight shake.  “Jesus Christ, none of that is important right now. Can you just focus here for a minute?”

He can feel Mickey’s heartbeat speeding back up, as if his nerves affect the older boy more than a whole room of vampires did.  Or maybe the push is wearing off. It’s a shame he’s probably going to have to attempt another one.

“Mick, I need you to call your dad.  Call Terry. Get him to meet you here.  Back at the mausoleum. Tell him you’re working on a deal but they want to talk to him, whatever you have to do to get him here.”

Mickey scoffs and shakes Ian’s hands off his shoulders. “Man, he’d kick my fuckin ass if he thought I couldn’t handle a deal.  Besides, the fuck do I want that bastard around for anyways?”

Ian wants to scream. He also wants Lip to stop trying to control the damn  weather because it’s fall in Chicago and there’s no way it should be so fucking warm and he feels like he’s about to sweat through his shirt. Could be the nerves, but he’s pretty sure it’s mostly Lip. But he has to pull this off before he can argue with his brother about his quest for perpetual summertime.

“Fine,” he says through clenched teeth. “Appeal to his ego. Tell him it’s a big new client. Tell him whatever you have to, just get him to show up.  Within the hour. And by himself.”

Just another small push, the tiniest little pebble of weight.

He can see when it hits this time.  Mickey’s eyes go vacant and he reaches for his phone and Ian absolutely hates himself for this and every other thing he’s going to do tonight.

He tries not to listen in to Mickey’s conversation more than he has to, knows he doesn’t really want to hear about all the shit Terry’s involved in, things that Mickey has had to be part of.

“Look, Pops, Aleks got in a new truck of girls, wants to know if you want to break any of them in first but you gotta meet him tonight.  Yeah, I know it’s short notice, why the fuck you yellin at me? You in or not? Jesus Christ.”

Ian’s blood runs cold. He figured drugs, guns but this, this is what it takes to get Terry here? He feels sick to his stomach and more determined than ever to see this through. 

Ian leans against the cemetery wall and waits for Mickey to hang up. He should call Lip, have him meet him just in case but he kinda wants to do this himself. The less people involved the better. He slides down the wall until he’s sitting with his arms propped on his knees.

“Hey, Mick, c’mere. Sit with me while we wait. I’ll tell you what’s going on okay?”

Maybe it’s the push or maybe it’s just his curiosity winning out, Ian doesn't know, but Mickey joins him and Ian starts at the beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been two weeks since Halloween and Mickey has kept his distance. He's seen Ian at work and the red head has been the same as ever. Eager little puppy with his freckles and his big green eyes looking at Mickey like he hung the fucking moon.

But Mickey has still kept his distance. He doesn't really know what it is, just that something is different. And the redhead has never once pushed him to open up, to tell him what’s wrong, hasn’t asked a single question. That alone is almost enough to convince him something’s changed.

He thinks he sees it sometimes out of the corner of his eye, Ian's whole demeanor changes, becomes tough, hard as steel. But it's gone every time he looks directly at him and Mickey decides he's imaging it.

He's been jumpy lately. That's all it is. His dad has fallen off the grid and he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The one that lands him in juvie again or some other equally unpleasant bullshit.

Things start coming back in flashes, pieces of conversations he has no recollection of.  The first time it happens, he’s taking some bets for Tommy.  

_“We just can’t be giving out free passes.  That’s not how this works. One of you has to pay the penalty.”_

Then it’s an overheard conversation between Lip and Ian about the weather that doesn’t make any fucking sense at all but he hears Ian’s voice in the back of his mind.

_“We’re witches. All of us. Pretty strong ones.”_

It’s a chance encounter with Fiona outside the Alibi that leaves him in the alley gasping for breath as another conversation comes back to him.

_“Ain’t a Milkovich alive who needs a Gallagher to protect them.”_

_Fiona just hums and keeps puttering around the Gallagher kitchen._

_“In your world, I’m sure that’s true. In any case, thanks to Ian, you and your sister are now under our protection and that would normally mean you’re entitled to know about our world. However, Ian doesn’t feel you’re ready for that yet and I think I’m inclined to agree with him.”_

_Mickey leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. This is not hood girl Fiona Gallagher, this is some one he’s never seen before. This Fiona seems stronger. More grounded. Capable of anything. But Mickey being Mickey, he has to poke the bear._

_“Look here lady, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about or what the fuck you think you or Ian can do about what I know or don’t fuckin know.”_

_Fiona just smiles and sits a shot glass in front of him before sliding into the chair across from him._

_“You’re gonna drink this and then I’m gonna send you on your way.  You never saw Ian tonight, you never went to the graveyard. Nothing unusual happened to you this evening. You did whatever it is you would do on a normal day.”_

_“I ain’t drinking that shit.”_

_Fiona looks him in the eye, she’s still smiling but there’s an underlying hardness now._

_“Mickey, shut up and drink the shot.”_

_He does._

 

It takes him a few days to piece it all together.

Halloween evening, running around being stupid with Ian. Then the graveyard.  The like fucking clubhouse for vampires? He guesses? He can’t believe he’s actually considering this shit like it’s real. But it is, isn’t it? They tried to take it away from him but he was there. He saw things. This shit is so real.

And he’s pissed. He’s so fucking pissed at Ian and Fiona at first that he can’t even see straight. Fuckin Gallaghers thinking they can fuck with his head. What the fuck gives them the right?

And then he remembers Ian sitting outside the graveyard looking sad and tired and defeated. Like the whole world has just beaten him down.

_“So I’m doing this for you, and Mandy. Because I love you. Love both of you. He’ll never be able to touch either one of you-or anyone else- ever again. And if you were gonna remember any of this tomorrow, you’d maybe hate me for it but I don’t regret it, Mick. Not one bit.”_

More pieces fall together.

His dad’s not on a run or just laying low somewhere until whatever trouble blows over.  He’d wager no one will ever see or hear from Terry Milkovich ever again. The relief he feels at that is astounding. He doesn’t have to be so scared anymore. And Ian did that. For him. Because he loves him.

Mickey mentally shies away from that thought because he’s a damaged 18 year old closeted gay kid on the South Side of Chicago and he’s never imagined love would ever be something he could have. But now, maybe?

He gives it a couple more days to decide how to approach Ian. Knowing the kid (because despite all of this, Ian's still just a 16 year old kid, isn’t he? Isn't he? Jesus Christ, Mickey will have to ask him later...) can literally summon fire makes him a little more cautious but he thinks he still has the upper hand because Ian doesn’t know he knows and a little bit of shock value can go a long way.

So when he corners Ian in the cooler at the Kash & Grab, he wouldn’t say he’s scared but he’s definitely a little nervous.

“So, you do that a lot? Fuck with my head?”

Ian drops the carton of milk in his hands as he spins around to face Mickey. Mickey watches the carton bust, spill around the redhead’s feet but within seconds it’s gone, whole again and in Ian’s hands. Almost like it never happened at all.

Mickey looks up at him, brows arched high. “Neat trick. So do you? Fuck with my head? Get your sister to do it for you? That happen a lot?”

“Mick….what….I don’t….” Ian is trying not to panic. Fiona’s spells are foolproof. Unbreakable. Unless she wants them to be. Ian barely has time to ponder that before Mickey is speaking again.

Mickey snorts. “Drop the act, Gallagher. I know. I fuckin remembered everything.”

And there it is. Mickey can see it clearly now, that other version of Ian behind the wide puppy dog eyes. Shoulders straight, head held high, stance strong. It’s actually really doing things for Mickey but he can’t afford to get distracted right now.

“No.  Never. Just that night. Mick, you have to know I would never.”

Mickey does know. Knows there’s a whole host of things the younger boy would like from him. Knows now Ian could’ve taken advantage, made him think it was all his idea but he never has.

“So a witch, huh?”

Ian looks at him questioningly, but he nods slowly. “Yeah.”

"And vampires too?"

"Yep."

"Any other supernatural shit out there I should know about?"

Ian grins at him. "Tons."

Mickey blinks at that but doesn't let himself get sidetracked. “That change anything between us?”

“It doesn’t have to,” Ian shrugs, placing the carton of milk he's just realized he's still holding on the shelf. “Not if you don’t want it to.”

Except it does. Mickey knows it does but they can hash all that out later. He looks away from Ian then, suddenly bashful, can feel the blush staining his face. 

He steps closer, curling a finger through Ian’s belt loop and pulling the younger boy to him. “We can talk about it later. Been awhile. Got other things to take care of first.”

Ian smiles and leans in for a kiss because the kid is tenacious and has never given up on getting Mickey to kiss him. Mickey always turns his head, offers his neck or throat up for Ian's affections because he got tired of issuing threats a long ass time ago.

But not today.  Today Mickey can give Ian this. Because he wants to. Because this is the only way he can think of to say thank you without actually having to talk about what Ian has done for him. For Mandy. By default, for his whole family.

So he lets Ian kiss him and he hopes like hell he can do this right.

He pulls away when he's breathless, when he's crawling out of his skin from the _intimacy_ of it all. He needs to get back on solid footing, needs to feel like himself again so he pushes Ian away and musters as much attitude as he can scrape up at the moment.

"You ever try that mind control shit on me again, I'll kick your fucking ass, Gallagher."

Ian just laughs at him and pulls him close again, hands sliding into the back pockets of his jeans, pressing them together.

"Mick, why don't you shut up and kiss me again."

And Mickey does.

 


End file.
